Hundreds of books have been dumped outside a former library in south London, sparking outrage among locals.
The texts were found in large piles outside the Broad Green Library on Canterbury Road in Croydon.
It was reported that council contractors left the books outside the property following the clean-up.
The library closed last year and is due to be turned into an Asian Resource Centre as part of cost-cutting measures by Croydon Council.
Jason Perry, the borough’s mayor, said the situation with the books was “unacceptable” and the council will be dealing with the contractors involved.
The Conservative mayor said: "It's just absolutely terrible what has happened to this building and yesterday we saw even worse things — of books being thrown out on the pavement.
"The way that these books were being treated was just unacceptable and we will be dealing with our contractors accordingly."
He added: "For me, books are precious and they shouldn't be treated in that way."
Residents have since collected some of the books and have placed them back into the building, Inside Croydon reports.
Mr Perry said when squatters were staying in the building it had been "sectioned off into bedrooms" and "rented out to people in the most vulnerable of conditions".
He also revealed a door that had been "kicked in", along with damaged masonry.
Mr Perry said the new community centre will keep the books and have expanded opening hours compared to when it was a library, operating for two days a week.
Data shows that Broad Green was the fourth least visited of Croydon's libraries, with just over 17,000 visits in 2023-24.
But the council has faced criticism for the closure of the library, which opened in 1998 and cost £100,000 a year to run, as well as three others, as part of a restructure programme.
Research by the BBC discovered that 190 libraries across the UK have shut in the past five years, 20 of them in London alone.
